The Return of the MidGet
The best parts of MG Rover were sold off long ago when BMW retained the Mini brand and design, and, later, Ford kept the Land Rover series of SUVs. The interest in MG Rover focused on two issues related to marketing: production (engine technology) and inventory (thousands of unsold MG Rovers sit in storage).However, another marketing topic may have driven the bidding for MG Rover. MG, or MidGets as they were known in the U.S., sold small convertibles in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Poor reliability, tighter emission and safety standards, and stiffer competition forced English brands, MG and Triumph, and the Italian brand, Fiat, off the American road. All three brands competed in the same segment of the market now dominated by Mazda’s Miata convertible.
More Americans recognize the MG brand compared to the number of Americans who recognize Najing Automobile or Shanghai Automotive Corp. It should be far cheaper for a Chinese automobile company to launch a product destined for the U.S. with the MG brand than starting from scratch.
What would it take to revive a dead brand? Is it possible? What kinds of resources need to be committed? Indian Motorcycle could not be resurrected like so much Jason, Michael Myers, or Freddie. The market that existed for the original MG line of convertibles has been taken over by competitors with far greater resources.
Where does this leave Najing and its tarnished and musty MG brand?
For those wondering the value of a brand, Interbrand posted its 2005 list, which is linked here. Click here for story.
posted by Michael @ 8:17 AM
2 Comments:
I would say in order to revitalize a "dead brand" my advice would be to express it as a vintage type product. Market the brand as something of significance, but exclusive and rare. Make it the brand that made it back, the one that no one has heard from in so long that it becomes "cool" again. I would suggest doing this through viral marketing at first and then moving into other areas of marketing (advertising). This way it spreads in the beginning as something that no one really knows about anymore, kind of like a secret in the re-introduction (PLC). After that enforce the advertising as the product grows back into the growth stage.
I know guys who still talk about how cool MG's are. They really don't feel that way, seeign as though they were junky, but you see them in Michael Cane movies on TBS now and then, and they go "Ooh, those were neat cars, so-and-so had one and we loved tooling around in it." That lingering image holds a better spot in American consumers' minds that the Kia and Daewoo brands, even though you'd never have the trouble with these as you would the Midgets. If General Motors had aquired these rights and designs, they could replace the dead Oldsmobile or give-away Chevy tiny models and possibly hit the market sucessfully, especially on the Coasts. But Nanjing could have the exact same model out there with the same name and the publicity would kill it. It's not just a gamble, it's a suicide run. The media has discussed this in business reports and cable news for months - Nanjing entering the US market. Try as they might to fight the image off, almost anyone who could afford better would pass on it b/c they know this company is highly-subsidized by the Chinese government, who is backing this them just enough to avoid the Hugo fiasco, while still looking for a good return from a cheap product with a good named dumped into the American auto market. I'm not saying they won't try it, but I can't see it working in the States.
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